Monochromacy
by garden-nomes
Summary: AU one-shot. Taken from this prompt: "People are born completely colour blind, but upon finding their soul mate, their world turns to colours. The world goes dark again when their soul mate dies." Rated M for theme.


**A/N: Have no fear, I haven't abandoned everything. I wouldn't do that to you guys. However, I find myself a bit stuck at the moment. I was trawling through reddit today (that utterly fascinating time waster) and found a subreddit which is full of writing prompts. I bookmarked it, tweeted it and had a look back at it later, and found the following prompt which I decided to use for this story, because it just spoke to me.**

**"**_people are born completely colour blind, but upon finding their soul mate their world turns to colours. the world goes dark again when their soul mate dies_**"**

**And so, I wrote this story. It might seem a bit stilted to begin with, so apologies if it does. I've never written to an actual prompt before, so...first attempts and all. And I pretty much bawled my eyes out through the last section, you will see why...just the thought, you know? *shrug***

**(Still bitter about Fire.)**

**It's also the first story I've written in forfuckingever that is in third person, and I forgot how hard it can be. Whodathunkit?**

**Anyway, on with it..**

**Disclaimer: I do not own skins, or the characters. Bugger. Any and all typos, deal with it.**

* * *

Several years ago, Naomi's world was monochrome.

Everything was in tones of grey, either dark or light, much like a black and white photograph. It was a strange way of living, when the world looked so drab. When you were unable to see the beauty of a rainbow, or the colours on a bird's wing. Her world was viewed like a black and white movie, and nothing different was known to her.

That was until a girl came along. A girl that changed her life, and her perception forever. The first time Naomi saw Emily, was the first time she saw colour, and it scared the living shit out of her. She was beautiful, that was true. But there was a stark difference, something that she had never seen before.

The colour red.

But in spite of scaring Naomi, it also fascinated her. She felt like a child again, and the discovery of something so beautiful entranced her. What entranced her even more, was the way the shorter girl looked at her, as though she was mesmerised. Naomi herself was too shy, at first, to speak to her, instead preferring to look from afar, hoping that it wouldn't seem too creepy. But it wasn't as this she could look away... As each day passed, the red invaded her mind, filling her waking thoughts, as well as her dreams. It was just another day, when the girl with the red hair, who had filled her thoughts, came to sit next to her.

"Hi." She said, her voice full of husky warmth and curiosity.

"Erm...hi." Naomi replied.

"I'm Emily." She said, holding out her hand.

Not wanting to seem rude, Naomi took it, the touch of their skin sending a shiver up her spine, along with something else strange she hadn't experienced before. The hand had colour bleeding into it. Not red, but...the colour of flesh, such like she had never seen before.

"Naomi." She said, softly. She then realised Emily was staring at their joined hands, just like she was, with the same expression of curiosity. Suddenly nervous, Naomi took her hand back, and stuck it into the pocket of her hoodie. "Sorry...I've got to go." She muttered, standing up and beginning to walk away.

"Bye..." She heard Emily's voice faintly call after her.

* * *

All the way home, Naomi pondered if she was going crazy. When she ate dinner that night, she was distracted, enough that her mother could see that something wasn't right.

"You alright, love?" She asked.

Naomi shrugged. "There's a girl at college... And... Her hair. It was different."

"How?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. I don't know how to... When I looked at it, it didn't look normal. It didn't look the same as everything else. You know...grey."

Naomi's mother put her fork down, and wiped her mouth with her napkin, placing it back on the table. "Did I ever tell you the story my mother told me about when she met my dad?" Gina Campbell asked her daughter.

"No..." Naomi replied.

"It's always been a strange thought to me, but she swears it was true. She said it was the first time she saw what they call colour. Before she met him, she saw the world in black and white, like we all do. But when she met him...things changed for her, and she began to see the world in colour. I always thought it was a little bit silly, I mean...it's never happened to me."

"What about when you met dad?" Naomi asked.

"No. I've never seen the world in colour. But mum always said she saw it, as clear as day and as bright as a rainbow."

"And she loved grandpa?"

"Oh, yes." Gina replied, with a fond smile. "They loved each other very much. Grandpa was heartbroken when she died. He said he never saw the world the same way since, and if guess it was true, seeing as he died a few months after."

"Wow." Naomi said.

"This girl...do you know her name?"

"Huh? Oh...it's Emily."

"Have you talked to her?" Gina asked.

Naomi shrugged again. "I'm a bit scared to, to be honest. I don't know what to say to her. She makes me feel strange."

"In a good, or bad way?"

"Uhm...good, I suppose. But... I hardly know her." Naomi said.

"Maybe you should make the effort, love? You never know. She could be a really nice girl."

"I suppose. Anyway... I'm going to go up to bed." Naomi said, standing up and trudging up the stairs to her room.

* * *

The next time Naomi saw Emily, she could have sworn she was hallucinating. The girl appeared to her in full colour. Her red hair, warm, inviting brown eyes, pink lips, and beautiful skin. She went over to her, and stood awkwardly, while Emily talked to her sister, who was her twin, until Emily noticed she was there.

"What do you want?" Emily's sister sneered.

"Katie, don't be rude." Emily said, quietly.

"Fucking weirdo. She's always staring at you, Ems. It's not normal."

Naomi bit her bottom lip, turned on her heel, and began walking away. She made it around the corner of the building, and partway across the oval, before she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, wait!"

She stopped, turning to see Emily catching up to her. "Yes? Can I help you with something?" Naomi said, opting for standoffish words.

"Uhm...sorry about her. You obviously wanted to talk to me, and she's a rude twat a lot of the time." Emily said, looking back at Naomi sheepishly. She stood there in a knee length skirt, a white t-shirt and a checked shirt on top of it, but with all the buttons open. There was a black bow in her hair, that was rather cute, if Naomi admitted it.

Naomi shrugged. "Yeah well..." She said, not really having anything else to say.

Emily looked at her with the same curiosity she had the first time they had encountered each other. "You do keep staring, though. It's a little weird."

"S-sorry, I don't mean to make you u-uncomfortable." Naomi muttered.

Emily shook her head, the trestles of red shaking around her shoulders as she gave Naomi a simple smirk. "It doesn't." She said. "I like weird things."

Naomi bit her bottom lip. "I keep seeing weird things."

"Like what?" Emily asked.

"Colour."

Emily's eyes widened, and she said nothing for a long moment, before taking Naomi's hand in her own. "Come on." She said, beginning to lead Naomi to the other side of the field where several tall trees stood.

"Where are we going?" Naomi asked, her feet following Emily, one after the other.

"You're going to tell me about colour."

They bunked off the rest of the day, that afternoon, stting under a tree, Emily listening to Naomi tell her mother's story about her grandparents. She talked a long while, before looking at Emily.

"I see you...in colour. And after hearing my mum's story... I don't quite know what it means." Naomi admitted. "I'm probably just being foolish, but..."

Emily took Naomi's hand in her own. "I don't think so." She said, quietly. Naomi felt a tingling sensation as Emily's skin pressed against her own. "I think I get what you mean."

"You do?"

Emily nodded. "I've seen you in colour, too. It's the weirdest thing. I've never seen it before, until I saw you, that is." She raised her hand and traced an outline around Naomi's form. "Everything outside you is still black and white. Like you're framed in it, and then there's just this explosion of..." She smiled. "It's quite beautiful."

Naomi stared at Emily, understanding what the girl meant. "I'm not going crazy, then?"

Emily shook her head. "I don't think so." She said. "That would mean I am too, and I don't feel that I am."

"What do you suppose it means? I don't see anyone else in colour...just you." Naomi said, quietly.

"I don't know." Emily replied. "Maybe it's just...our secret, yeah?" She added, with a small smile.

Naomi smiled back. "Yeah, perhaps you're right."

* * *

**(Some months later)**

Naomi lay in bed next to Emily, their naked limbs entwined around each other, as she stroked the red fringe off the smaller girl's face.

"You're so beautiful." Naomi whispered, leaning forward to kiss her. Emily kissed her back slowly, as Naomi cuddled closer. "I just wish I knew why I only see you in colour, and no one else."

"Why?" Emily asked, as she laid her head on Naomi's shoulder.

"It's curious. What is so special about you?"

"That's an odd thing to say..." Emily said, curiously.

"Oh, not like that... I didn't mean that to sound bad. You know how I ...feel about you...right?"

"Hmm...not sure. Maybe you should remind me?"

Naomi turned Emily's head to look at her, staring into her warm, brown eyes. "You know that I love you. Emily." She said, softly. She kissed Emily's forehead. "I can't bear to be without you. It's like you're part of me."

Emily pulled her closer, and kissed her. "I know exactly what you mean." She said, with a content smile.

* * *

**(Later that week)**

Naomi had gone to visit her mother, not just because there was laundry to be done, but because she wanted to ask more about her grandparents.

"Mum...what was it you said, about grandma and grandpa...and the colours?" Naomi asked, after she had finished folding her clean clothes.

"Mum told me she never saw colour until she met him. And he told me the same, when she died. He was very upset, he said all the colour had gone out of his life... Everything had returned to grey. Honestly, I think it broke his heart completely, because he wasn't around much longer." Gina said. "He lost who he was very quickly. Dementia had set in, and all he talked about was colour. But it was melancholy, the way he spoke of it. He kept talking about how he had lost part of his soul."

"His soul?" Naomi asked.

Gina nodded. "He believed that he and your grandma were soul mates. She believed the same thing, and I always thought she was just being over-romantic about it. You know, like it was a fairy tale. The love people only dream of." She explained. "I think they both saw each other and the world around them in colour, when they were together. Mum once told me it was beautiful, truly beautiful. It was like a dream, almost...how she described it."

"And you've never seen the same?"

"I've never been in love, Naomi. I never found the person who was my soul mate." Gina said, wistfully. "Some people just never do."

Naomi thought for a while. "Beautiful...like a dream..." She whispered.

"Hmm?"

"N-nothing. I've got to go. I'll see you soon, mum." Naomi said, kissing her mother on the cheek, picking up her rucksack of clothes and walking out of the house.

* * *

**(Many years later)**

Naomi and Emily had lived many happy years together. Those years were full of colour, laughter and a lot of love. Naomi had told Emily, what more her mother had told her about her grandparents, even though it was a few years later when she had proposed to her. Emily listened to the story with eager curiosity, and happily agreed to marrying the woman she loved. They saw their day in full, glorious colour, even if no one else could, and even if Katie thought they were both crazy, soppy losers fawning over each other.

"Katie, when you find true love, you will understand." Emily had said to her twin.

Naomi and Emily had lived their life together to the fullest. One morning, Naomi woke up, Emily huddled in her arms like usual. She shifted, her lips brushing against Naomi's neck and sighed, contently. But then something changed.

The colour began to fade from Naomi's vision. Everything around her, and especially Emily, desaturated slowly, until the woman she had loved for so many years lay still, not breathing in her arms.

"Emily?" She whispered, with a sense of dread, though she knew from what her mother had told her so many years ago, that Emily was already gone. "Please...wake up."

But, she didn't. Just like her grandfather before her, Naomi's heart broke that morning, when Emily's final breath left her lungs. The only place she saw colour now, was in her dreams, and the joy in her life was replaced with an ache in her heart, her very soul, that _nothing_ could appease.

Just like her grandfather, Naomi died not long after Emily. And as she gave her last breath, and she floated out of her body, the colour returned to her world, along with Emily, who was waiting for her, with that cheeky smile that she so loved, and had missed.

"I'm sorry I left you." She said, as she pulled Naomi into her arms for a long overdue cuddle. "But I'm so glad you're here."

* * *

**A/N#2: tissues to the left of me, review box to the right...**

**(Here I am, still here writing fics for you!)**

**(Does anyone even get that joke?)**

**Anyway. The title (Monochromacy) is the technical term for colour blindness.  
**

**Hope you liked it, sorry for the angst at the end, I couldn't leave it totally angsty, so hence the last lines.**

**Cheers,**

**~GN~ xo**


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